Shutudri
Writing a book about Jaswant Singh Khalra changed me. Every biographer carries a small part of the heart of the person they seek to understand, and in writing his story, I found myself carrying a fragment of his quiet courage and unwavering compassion.
After watching Satluj, I realized that I could not respond with critique or commentary. I could only respond with a plea to the ancient river Shutudri, witness to both Punjab’s greatest blessings and its deepest wounds, to remember, to heal, and to carry forward the truth that Jaswant Singh Khalra gave his life to uncover.
- Gurmeet Kaur
Satluj,
Ancient river,
Shutudri, the ever-flowing one.
You were born in the lap of the Himalayas
where snow becomes prayer
and glaciers remember the first dawn.
Before empires named you
before borders claimed you
You descended,
free, pristine, untamed
through rock and cedar
into the Panjnad valley
bearing life to the land of five waters.
You knew only the language of flow.
Then came the age
that sought to command you.
They dammed your breath
diverted your ancient course
measured your pulse in canals and concrete.
Yet no dam was as cruel
as the burden they laid upon your soul.
They turned your waters
into a witness.
You carried the disappeared
bodies without names
heads severed
stomachs cut open
fathers, brothers, sons
entrusted to your silence.
At Harike,
where your waters gather before moving onward
they believed you would erase them.
Never identified
Never recovered
No final rites
No mother’s last embrace
No farewell
No closure
But rivers remember.
Satluj,
Tell me,
How do you still carry life
to thirsty fields,
to villages that wait for rain
when your own cradle weeps?
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How do your waters still sing
after all they have witnessed?
Perhaps because you carry
the heart of the man
who refused to let truth become silence.
The gentle soul
whose courage sought no revenge,
whose love belonged to all,
who stood only with justice.
The man from Khalra.
And perhaps you remember
the one whose footsteps
once blessed the Kali Bein,
whose song taught rivers
to see no Hindu, no Muslim
only the One flowing through all.
As the Kali Bein
finds her way to you at Harike
All waters remember
their oldest kin.
Shutudri,
Carry them both:
the saint who awakened souls
and the son of Punjab
who gave the disappeared
their names again.
Let them flow
as freely as you once did.
Satluj,
Queen of grace,
Be kind to your cradle
the land of Punjab.
Carry once again
only snowmelt, harvests, prayers, and children’s laughter.
Bear only the names
spoken in love.
Never again
the whispers of the disappeared.
A children’s author, environmentalist, and champion of the Punjabi language, Gurmeet Kaur strives to weave stories and actions that unite humanity and celebrate our shared responsibility to one another and the planet.
🌐 www.pippal.org | www.folktalesofpunjab.com
ਗੁਰਮੀਤ ਕੌਰ ਦੇਸ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਬੋਲੀ, ਵਿਰਾਸਤ ਤੇ ਵਾਤਾਵਰਨ ਨੂੰ ਸੰਭਾਲਣ ਲਈ ਸਮਰਪਿਤ ਹੈ। ਇਹ ਮਰਜੀਵੜਾ ਜਸਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਖਾਲੜਾ ਅਤੇ ਸੋਹਣੇ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀਆਂ ਮੋਹਣੀਆਂ ਬਾਤਾਂ ਪੁਸਤਕ ਲੜੀ ਦੀ ਲੇਖਕਾ ਹੈ। ਇਹਦਾ ਧਿਆਨ ਸੱਚ-ਬਿਆਨੀ, ਭਾਸ਼ਾ ਦੀ ਪੁਨਰਜਾਗਰਤੀ, ਪੰਥ ਅਤੇ ਜਗਤ ਵਿਚ ਇਖ਼ਲਾਕ ਤੇ ਇਤਫ਼ਾਕ ਦੀ ਸਿਰਜਣਾ ਉੱਤੇ ਟਿਕਿਆ ਹੈ।
